Voices of CMB: The Chadwick Martin Bailey Research Blog

The iPad Will Kill the Netbook, Media Hype or Real Threat?

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There is a lot of hype around the iPad, as with any new Apple product entering the market. There are some that say the iPad will kill the netbook market. Recent articles in InfoWorld and PC World both make the case that netbooks have just been given their death sentence or as Galen Gruman says in his article, "Apple has just fired the death shot at the netbook".  I say not so fast....

Our recent CMB tech Pulse research paints a very different picture.  In April we asked over 1200 consumers about their device preferences, which we will be talking more about in a press release next week. But it is worth noting that we saw 23% of netbooks users will replace their netbook with a tablet and 22% of tablet users will replace their tablet with a netbook. So at this point I say that's more hype, the reality of the entire netbook market going away is just not happening.  Yet the iPad is threat, something to be careful of something to take note of in the consumer market.  After all, netbooks entered the market as a consumer product and the iPad has certainly put a damper on the consumer netbook hype, but netbooks are making inroads to the B2B market. So I don't think the iPad or any tablet for that matter will kill the netbook market all together, but maybe it's time for netbook manufacturers to shift their focus the B2B market.

Personally, I think the iPad is more likely to kill the Kindle and other eBook readers and smartphones will have more of an impact on netbooks than the iPad. There's no doubt that the mobile computing landscape is changing, and we can always count on Apple to drive innovation and to shake things up.

Posted by Don Ryan. Don is a senior consultant for CMB's technology practice. Don is an avid tennis player and enjoys reading political commentary and spy novels.